News from the Library of Congress

May 14, 2002

MEDIA ADVISORY

Intellectual Freedom To Be Topic Of May 23 Lecture by ALA's Judith Krug

Judith F. Krug, director of the American Library Association's (ALA) Office for Intellectual Freedom since 1967 and executive director of the Freedom to Read Foundation since 1969, will present a Library lecture titled "Intellectual Freedom 2002: Living the Chinese Curse," on Thursday, May 23, at 10:30 a.m., in the Coolidge Auditorium of the Library's Thomas Jefferson Building, 10 First Street S.E. This event is the first in a series of Luminary Lectures @ Your Library sponsored by the Library's Public Service Collections Directorate. The lectures are free and open to the public. Tickets are not required.

"This new lecture series gives Library staff and their local colleagues the opportunity to gain a fresh perspective on current issues in librarianship and learn more about innovative work being done in the library field throughout the country," said Diane Kresh, director of the Library's Public Service Collections.

Ms. Krug is a noted speaker, author, and advocate of intellectual freedom. In 1998, she received ALA's Joseph P. Lippincott Award, in recognition of the leadership and support she has provided to the American Library Association, to the profession of library science, and to the American public in upholding the constitutional right of the individual to speak and read freely. She is one of the founders of Banned Books Week, an annual celebration of the right of individuals to choose their own reading materials.

In a recent statement in defense of ALA's opposition to Internet filtering in public libraries, Ms. Krug noted, "Librarians play a unique role in our society; we bring people together with the information they need and want. We do this by making sure libraries have information and ideas across the spectrum of social and political thought, so people can choose for themselves what they want to read or view or listen to. Libraries serve everyone."